Astral, Chapter 1
by TheRealLonelyPencil
Summary: The first chapter of a blend of action, fantasy, drama, romance, and a slice of life. Eric finds a strange object during one of his recurring lucid dreams, but has no idea how much it will change his waking life.


This is an original work. Feedback is much appreciated. If you'd like to see updates on this, as well as the art I make, I'm on Twitter lonely_pencil96, Instagram the_lonely_pencil, and DeviantArt 8675309link.

Chapter 1:  
The Dream

It was dark, as always. I had gotten used to it by now. All I had to do was open my eyes, and…there. Bright light, almost blinding. It was as if I had just surfaced from the deep sea, like all my senses had turned on at once. The sound of wind filled my ears, and I felt that selfsame breeze on my skin. The hair on my arms stood up in response to the sudden change. I looked on at the massive mountains and forests in the distance. From below me, at the base of the precipice I found myself on, there resounded the distant sounds of people yelling and children laughing; the sounds of a small community. I was back.  
I thought about taking the path to my left down the cliff into the village, but I decided against it. Today, I thought, I would return to the forest. It had been a while. I turned on the spot and headed down the worn path into the mass of trees. As I walked, I ran my finger over the empty space in the shoulder of my sword. It had been there for as long as I could remember, and I didn't know what it was there for. I pondered why the maker of the blade would leave such a gap in it. Could it have been for stylistic purposes? Or something more?  
The longer I walked, the denser the trees became. The rays of sunlight couldn't combat the thick canopy as easily as they had at the entrance. It became harder to navigate through the slowly darkening forest, though I knew it was still daylight out. I had no trouble with it, though. The forest hadn't changed much in the many years I had visited it-  
I stopped. The forest was quiet today, and I wasn't entirely sure why. I had been here many times before, but it had never been like this. As I walked through the trees, my sword bouncing against my leg, I listened to the wind rustle through the leaves. I pondered the strange silence. What could have happened to make the forest so still and lifeless? I chanced a sound.  
"Hello?"  
No reply. Not even an echo. The air felt almost heavy, the silence was deafening. It wouldn't be that way for long, though, as the noise I made had woken something.  
Suddenly, from behind me, something moved. I turned on the spot to face it, whatever it was. The air was thick, but this time with anticipation. I readied myself. There were some nasty creatures living here, as I knew from past experiences. The rustling of a bush snapped me out of my reverie. I quickly readied my blade, and locked into a battle stance.  
"Show yourself!" I shouted.  
The bush rustled once again, and I knew I was about to meet the source of the strange silence. As I looked onward, a single tanned foot emerged from the base of the bush.  
"Since when did you start drawing your blade on your friends, Eric?"  
"Since when did you start trying to frighten your friends to death, Lina?" I replied, sheathing my sword.  
"Oh, but you know I couldn't resist messing with you a little. You're so serious all the time, lighten up a little!" She laughed, as she plucked a small twig from her dark hair.  
"Shouldn't you consider cutting that mop? Or at least putting it in a style? You know it's a hazard."  
"Oh, you don't need to worry about me, Er. I can handle myself just fine." She winked at me.  
"How many times have I told you not to call me that? You know I hate that nickname." I blushed as I remembered our first meeting, a few years ago. I was less experienced at a lot of things back then, including to talking to girls. The first time I had met Lina, I wasn't able to introduce myself properly, and instead kept repeating the first syllable of my name. It didn't help that at that moment, I had just helped her up from a rather…prone…position, one where I could see many things that shouldn't be talked about in public. I quickly cleared the thought from my head.  
"At any rate, why are you here? Shouldn't you be in the village?" I inquired.  
"You know I can't stand that place. Far too boring. I would much rather be out here, adventuring."  
"Can't argue with that. It is pretty boring there. So, have you found any treasures or ancient ruins on this adventure of yours?" I joked.  
"Actually, I have, Eric. Check this out. Look familiar?"  
She pulled a scrap of paper from the leather satchel at her side and passed it to me. I sighed and looked at it.  
It was a diagram or blueprint of some kind. On one side, there was a bunch of text in a language I couldn't read. I flipped it over. On the back side, there was…  
"My sword?"  
"Looks like it. Isn't that the part that has the hole in it?"  
I looked again. Lina was right. The crude drawing was of my sword, no doubt. Strangely, though, it was only the part that had the hole in it. Why would someone make this…?  
"Lina, where did you find this?"  
"Interested, huh?" She chuckled. "Follow me, I'll show you where I picked it up." She quickly marched off back the way she came. I followed soon behind.  
As we walked, I contemplated the scrap. It still bothered me why someone would make it. More interesting still was the text on the back. What did it say? Could it help explain the origins of the paper? Maybe it-  
"Hey, Thinker. Snap out of it, will you? You almost fell."  
I snapped back to awareness, and looked down. Sure enough, my right foot was inches away from a rock in the forest floor that would've surely hurt, had Lina not awoken me from my reverie. I had the bad habit of overthinking things to the point where I lost track of my surroundings. And at the worst times, too. This wasn't the first time Lina had saved my neck, and it sure wouldn't be the last.  
We walked on for what seemed like ages. I couldn't tell what time it was, since the trees blocked out any sunlight that may indicate the passage of time. Finally, when my legs felt like they would collapse, Lina suddenly shot out her arm and stopped me.  
"We're here."  
I looked up. In front of us was the mouth of a huge cavern. Vines hung in front of the entrance, winding around the stalactites that dripped moisture from the roof of the cave. Further inside, there was only darkness. The whole scene was quite menacing. Surely this couldn't be the right place. Lina couldn't be crazy enough to go inside-  
"Let's go inside, come on!"  
Just my luck. I followed her, grumbling, into the cavern.  
It was even darker in here than it was outside, if that was possible. Lina pulled a small candle and a piece of flint out of her pouch, and, striking the flint against the cave wall, shed light on our surroundings.  
The cave walls were covered in strange inscriptions. Upon closer inspection, they bore a strange resemblance to the writing on the paper. This was definitely the right place. I stood and turned to ask Lina if she knew anything about this place, but she was already marching away, deeper into the cave. I followed her. Didn't she ever take her time with anything?  
As we walked, the candle burning slowly lower, the inscriptions seemed to become even more densely packed on the walls, as if hundreds of people were all silently shouting in a language no one alive could understand. I noticed that the gouge marks, rather than being rough-cut, were near-perfectly polished. When the candlelight bounced off them, they almost seemed to glow.  
Soon, we reached a dead end. The cave went no further, and I was quickly getting frustrated.  
"Lina? Where is this amazing discovery you made? Because blank walls aren't new, they've been around for a while."  
"Oh, Er. How many times have I told you not to doubt me?"  
And with that, she reached towards a hollow in the wall I had assumed was just a natural formation. Reaching inside, she strained her arm, as if she were searching for something.  
"A-ha! There it is!" she exclaimed.  
I heard a faint click, and suddenly the whole cave was shaking.  
"LINA! WHAT DID YOU DO!?" I shouted over the deafening rumble. She merely motioned with her hand to wait. Then she pointed at the previously blank wall. It was moving, slowly, into a hollow in the cave wall I hadn't noticed.  
As the wall moved aside, a bright sliver of light was left behind. It grew wider and wider until it was almost blinding. I had to look down, since my eyes hadn't adjusted to the sudden change. Once I was able to see, I glanced over at Lina. She pointed excitedly at the source of the light. I looked up slowly at the place where the wall had been.  
It was a massive chamber. The walls seemed to slope endlessly above and below me. I thought there would be a hole at the top to let sunlight in, but there was nothing but darkness. I kept looking for the source of the light. It wasn't too hard to find.  
At the center of the massive room, there was a stone pathway, suspended in midair. It ended at a round platform, with a gigantic plinth in the center. The thing it supported was clearly the light source. A giant orb, made of a blue, resinous material, was balanced atop the plinth. The thing was massive, it had to be 20 feet across. The light from it, though, seemed to emanate from a dark shape in its center. I couldn't tell what it was, as the waxy surface blurred everything within.  
As I stepped onto the round platform and approached the orb, Lina following close behind me, I noticed that there was an indentation in the front of the plinth, along with a platform that clearly held something at one point. Lina motioned, smugly, for me to investigate it further.  
It seemed, judging by the way the platform was shaped, that it had held a sheet of paper at one point. There was a shallow, square indentation, and four curved brass clips that were clearly designed to hold something. It was almost like a clipboard, but the clips were on all sides. Maybe it was supposed to be regularly changed or something.  
As I looked it over, I noticed that one of the clips had a small piece of paper still in it, torn off. I picked it out from under the clip. It was blank, but the type of paper looked familiar. I pulled out the scrap of paper Lina had found and compared it. They fit together perfectly.  
"Jeez, Lina, you couldn't have taken your time pulling it out? you nearly tore it to shreds."  
"Always complaining. I was just excited to show it to you is all. And besides, it isn't in shreds, is it?"  
She had a point there. Either way, this platform had clearly held something related to my sword. I looked at it again, for no particular reason, other than to wonder why it had been there at all. Why would it need to be changed? Couldn't they just carve some indicator into it? I absentmindedly ran my hand over where the paper had been, feeling the texture of the stone, the weathering of time, the way it gave slightly under the weight of my hand…  
Wait. Stone has no give, it's stone. I felt the area again. Sure enough, one section of the platform seemed to act like a button. But the spot was immensely small, and far too difficult to push.  
"Lina, look at this. There's a button here, try and press it."  
She trotted over to me, curious. Stepping aside, I allowed her to look at the button. She, too, tried to press it. Nothing. She seemed to consider it for a few seconds, before suddenly turning to me.  
"Wait, why don't you try to press it with your sword?"  
"What? Why would I do that? I don't want to dull the edge! Just use a stick or something."  
"C'mon, this thing is clearly made for your sword. Remember the paper that was in it? It's pretty obvious, I think."  
I couldn't argue with that. This clearly had something to do with my sword. I reluctantly stepped up to the platform and drew my blade. Balancing the tip against the button, I gently leaned against the grip, and almost fell over as the blade slipped effortlessly up to the shoulder into a hidden slot.  
"Whoa! Are you okay?" Lina asked, surprised.  
"Yeah, I'm fine," I grunted. "I'm more worried about my sword."  
I got to my feet, and grabbed the grip again. Surely it wouldn't be so easy, since it was lodged so deeply in the stone. I pulled as hard as I could, and flew backwards as the blade, again, moved through the stone like a knife through warm butter. The sword flew from my hand and landed nearby with a clatter as I fell on my rear. Lina was amused to say the least.  
"You're just having a rough go of it today, aren't you?" she said through tears of laughter. I ignored her and got to my feet, my rear stinging from landing on the unforgiving stone floor. I noticed that something was different about the platform. The sword seemed to have ripped up the surrounding stone. I eyed it. It was pulled up in a very specific shape…  
"Lina, look! The platform changed!" I said excitedly. She rushed over and looked at it. "Wait, doesn't that kinda look like the gap in your sword?"  
It did. I was surprised, but only for a moment. Clearly my sword was important here. Could this be the reason why the sword was made, to serve as a key to this platform? And what would happen if I used it? Would the orb break or something? Maybe a door to a great treasure would appear. Or maybe the stone platform would break and we would be sent plummeting to our deaths.  
Well, only one way to find out. I gently pushed the blade down over the strange shape. Of course, it fit perfectly. As I finished placing the gap around the ridge, the cavern began to rumble. A loud noise echoed throughout the cave, deafening us. It was almost like an alarm, warning against intruders. I was suddenly scared. What would happen if we were caught? As I thought, the alarm continued to resound throughout the cave, amplified by the walls. "BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"


End file.
